All posts by James

About James

James Seidler is a writer living in Chicago. The editor for the now-defunct humor publication FLYMF, he has now decided to maintain his web presence and smart remarks through this blog.

We’re Not Talking About A Dog Here

FLYMF Alums, Movies

FLYMF writer and Whorescopes maven Angela Lovell has a short film, “Girl’s Best Friend,” available for viewing on YouTube. The movie’s a relationship spoof, spanning the range from initial enchantment to eventual disillusionment with an intimate, inanimate stand-in. It hits a lot of fun notes, and Angela does a great job in the lead role.

In addition to being FLYMF’s urban astrologer for nearly two years, Angela also gave us the Lawnballers, Never Judge An Artist By Her Vagina Dress (Or Lack Thereof), The Troll Made Me Do It, and I’ll Have My Rapist With A Side of Cranberry Sauce, the latter of which she’ll be performing at a Naked Holidays theater performance in New York City (link leads to a naked Santa). You can find more of her writing (and updated Whorescopes) at her website, Ticking Boxes.

Is “Chunky-Chunky” Enough, Or Do I Require EXTRA Chunky?

FLYMF Alums

FLYMF Alum Zachary Locklin has a subdued, and ultimately sweet, story published in the most-recent issue of Poetic Diversity. Titled “There Are No Pan-Asian Supermarkets In Hell/So You Can’t Buy Golden Boy Peanuts,” it offers a meditation on the ubiquity of marketing in our lives, retaining its good humor throughout, particularly with a nice pullback at the end.

Zach’s humor pieces for FLYMF include I Am A Conservationist, America, The Suck Fest, and A Disgrace To The Gothic Establishment. Check him out!

Bait And Switch

Books, Politics

In examining the fruits of the New Deal, The Conscience of a Liberal does far more than simply provide a nostalgia-seeped account of post-war prosperity. Instead, the book, written by Paul Krugman, provides a consistent and cogent argument for the New Deal’s expansion. Krugman, a New York Times columnist and respected professor of economics at Princeton University, supports a government that promotes decency, not in the narrow, moralistic sense in which that’s usually meant, but rather in working to ensure comfort and care for all of its citizens.

Continue reading Bait And Switch →

Billy Hits The Ether

Comics

There are several web sites that I read every day, but the Comics Curmudgeon is one of my favorites. Put together by Josh Fruhlinger, the site uses the daily comics page as a springboard to freely mock the solipsism and often-insane plot twists of legacy comic strips ranging from Mary Worth to the Family Circus.

The humor generally favors insiders, as a familiarity with characters and recent plots is usually necessary to get the jokes, but there are some great standalone gags as well. The most recent is a particularly Aryan Family Circus whose punchline includes a talking snowman that could have been pulled from a Hunter S. Thompson acid trip.

Of course, as FLYMF readers know, there have been whispers that all isn’t right in the Keane household for some time now.